Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and other officials visit the urban agriculture program in Dorchester. Report for BNN News. Aired September 18, 2012.

The governor’s visit was an important chance to remind policymakers that agriculture does not happen only in rural and suburban communities.

By Elena
The Food Project
September 26, 2012

Excerpt:

On Tuesday, September 18, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Commissioner of Agriculture Greg Watson joined representatives from The Food Project (TFP), the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI), and Alternatives for Community and Environment (ACE) to tour urban agriculture initiatives in Boston’s Dudley Street neighborhood. The group visited The Food Project’s urban farm on West Cottage Street, the Dudley Greenhouse on Brook Avenue, and several community gardens on Brook Avenue. Along the way, Governor Patrick chatted with neighborhood growers about their gardens, what they are growing, and why gardening is important to them. “It was exciting to see how much of an agriculture supporter our governor is,” remarked TFP Director of Community Programs Brandy Brooks, “and how knowledgeable and interested he is [in urban agriculture].

No doubt, urban farming is a highly emotive issue, whose existence will continue to exercise the minds of local authorities for years to come.

By Tawanda Ngena
The Herald
5 December 2012

Excerpt:

According to social commentator and city watcher Malcolm Leppard, the way forward is simple.

“Municipal authorities must, instead of the present uncontrolled and haphazard approach, identify and allocate appropriate land, taking into consideration all ratepayers’ needs,” he recently said in one of his newspaper articles.

He suggested that plot size be no greater than 250 square metres in order to accommodate as many families as possible.

“Try and think of something that food doesn’t affect in our society and in our lives,” said Sheedy. “It affects our social relationships. It affects our environment. It affects our health. It’s fundamental.”

Separation is perhaps the biggest problem in our food system — we are geographically separated from what we eat.

According to June Komisar, associate professor in the department of Architecture Science at Ryerson University, who specializes in designing for urban agriculture, our current system presents two problems.